General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBuycott app has been updated for Android!
This is an important app for smartphone users!
It came out a couple weeks ago, but the developers had some problems - the servers got slammed because the app went viral and made the news, and the Android app had some serious bugs.
Well, the Android app has just been updated. And when I test-drove the app, it worked fine for me! Looks like the initial bugs have been squashed!
What this app does is it enables you to scan the UPC barcode of any product in front of you, as you're shopping, and it goes online and looks the product up in Buycott's databases, to see if it conflicts with one of your campaigns that you've enrolled in in the app.
Campaigns you can join:
Say No to Monsanto
Avoid Koch Industries
Demand GMO Labeling
Equality for LGBTQ
They now have both an iPhone/iPad app and an Android app. Check it out here!
http://www.buycott.com/
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)burrowowl
(17,652 posts)hwmnbn
(4,279 posts)just downloaded it and gave it a test run on some items in the house. Works fine. I've joined 4 campaigns so far.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)hwmnbn
(4,279 posts)East Coast Pirate
(775 posts)Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
cprise
(8,445 posts)bunnies
(15,859 posts)Ive been waiting for the android version!
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)bunnies
(15,859 posts)Crappy phone-cam.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)bunnies
(15,859 posts)Such a sad day. Phone sux at close-up pix. Damn things only about a year old though!
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Maybe it's just that your camera's flaky, which would be more of a hardware problem, but short of that, I've found that I have better results when I have good lighting, I hold the camera relatively still (these are cell-phone cams, so you're not getting pro-grade photography), and I use the screen to sight the barcode, making sure the red line crosses the bar code.
What model phone do you have?
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Some of the products on the store shelves aren't in Buycott's database yet - if you see one of them, be kind and take a minute to do a little bit of data entry so the next guy doesn't have to. Other than that, worked great! I also tested it on some known "bad guy" companies (I tried Bounty paper towels, and those got flagged as being Koch & ALEC products.)
All in all, a very useful tool!
stlsaxman
(9,236 posts)"Amazing!"
This thing is awesome. It teaches you patience while you try to register 17 times.
But once you get past that it does this really cool thing. You scan a barcode and then you wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. Then, and this part is really cool, a box pops up and says "sorry, there has been an error."
Very clever. That whole time you are staring at it waiting, you are likely not buying stuff from companies that have practices you might find unacceptable. "
- only 3 reviews? ALL one star??
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)And I sympathize, as I've worked as a software developer.
I don't know anything about the iPhone version, as I'm using an Android phone. All I can tell you is that the first version of the Android app had some "undocumented features" as well.
I'd say that the developers are working very hard to get on top of the bugs that seem to always pop up on the release of a new app.
stlsaxman
(9,236 posts)wouldn't they just be able to make it a search engine available to all?
the developers of this app would make billions by turning it around and selling it to Koch, Ind.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)There has to be some way of keeping griefers from poisoning the database with bad info.
Oooh, you have to give them an email address - must be rough!
stlsaxman
(9,236 posts)collecting names like IBM did for the Third Reich.
call me crazy, but this has been done before, huh?
I can't find any on these "developers" and until i do i ain't buyin' in.
If it was me, I'd be above board and transparent as possible. Heck, i'd be PROUD to put my name on this app!